The 12 princesses sneak into the night. The princesses will be the centerpiece of Anderson Young Ballet Theatre’s latest production.
ANDERSON — Putting together a ballet is a lot of work. Creating one is even more work.
Choreographers and dancers from the Anderson Young Ballet Theatre have been working diligently to adapt “The 12 Dancing Princesses,” which they will perform March 2-3 at Reardon Auditorium.
“We were wanting to do something fantastic for our 50th anniversary season,” artistic director Jennifer Thiemet said.
“We made a decision to choreograph a new ballet. This is the third ballet that we’ve choreographed.”
Past adaptations were “The Little Mermaid” and “The Legend of Mulan.”
The three artistic directors scoured different fairy tales in search of the perfect story.
They settled on the Brothers Grimm classic, which follows 12 princesses/sisters who regularly wake up to damaged shoes.
“Every day, their father, the king, sends for the cobbler, and has shoes made for each one of them,” Thiemet explained. “Every night when they wake up, it starts all over again.”
The king wonders: What are they doing to these shoes?
He then issues an edict, offering his daughters’ hands in marriage to the man who finds the culprit, according to Thiemet.
The next step was to put the story and dance steps to music.
Thiemet and assistant artistic directors Cathy Sparks-Petraits and Rachel Kuhn took turns putting dance moves to each song, each according to their strengths.
Petraits focused on the general ensemble, while Thiemet focused on the soloists. From there, it was about casting dancers and giving them choreography.
Dancers were cast in April 2023, and the artistic directors were setting up choreography near the end of January.
Arianna Gillespie will portray the Fortune Teller in Anderson Young Ballet Theatre’s production of “12 Dancing Princesses.”
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